Regulation Can’t Solve our Problems
How many times have we heard the mantra that the free market is incapable of regulating itself? This claim has been exposed as false many times, yet we still have people whipping up arguments that have been used for centuries to limit economic freedom and steal the power from the citizen and place it in the hands of the government.
What is most troubling is that history is always invoked as being on the side of the government. As if without Big Brother stepping in to save us from ourselves, the population would be in such a state of economic chaos we would certainly be unable to progress as a society. Of course, anybody willing to actually sift through the history will find that the main culprit in almost any economic, and especially social, catastrophe is the government itself. The same is true for the current economic downturn.
Secret Transparency
It’s been a little over 5 months since Obama took office. Now that he’s approaching half a year as our commander-in-chief, I feel as if we can begin to judge his actions thus far and project his future measures. I have been met with much dissent upon my criticism of Obama, usually from his supporters who claim I shouldn’t expect him to solve all of our problems within a few measly months. For those who use this excuse, I would like to point out that this type of argument is a red herring that would be very characteristic of the typical Bush supporter.
I am, of course, not expecting him to fix all of our country’s problems within 6 months. To be honest, judging by his rhetoric and campaign promises, I never expected Obama to fix anything. However, very complex problems, such as the ailing economy, aside, we can begin to evaluate Obama based on the approaches he has been taking compared with his promises.
Obama’s Upcoming Executive Order
The Washington Post is reporting that the White House, worried about Congress curtailing efforts to close Guantanamo, is trying to drum up support for a reassertion of an executive order that would once again give the president the authority to incarcerate “terrorist suspects” indefinitely.
Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war. Obama advisers are concerned that an order, which would bypass Congress, could place the president on weaker footing before the courts and anger key supporters, the officials said.
As Glenn Greenwald points out, this Washington Post article is only calling attention to a policy still being considered and is unable to point out specifics. However, gathering information from Obama’s speech he hypocritically gave in front of the original US Constitution, we already know he wants a preventative detention system put in place giving him the authority to hold prisoners indefinitely without charges. It’s a sad situation when the American people must now choose the lesser evil of the government’s law breaking. Is it better for the president to break the law himself through executive order, or use Congress to do it?
Watch for Civilians
Due to the negative press the US has gotten over its military reports concerning the air strikes in the Farah Province in Afghanistan and their “possible” murder of 86 innocent civilians, General McChrystal has issued a tough new order for his troops: don’t fight so close to innocent people.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who took command of international forces in Afghanistan this month, has said his measure of effectiveness will be the “number of Afghans shielded from violence,” and not the number of militants killed.
Of course, the problem could be the simple ignorance of the rules of engagement with total impunity. However, It seems Gen. McChrystal may be on to something. Perhaps, his new goal of low civilian exposure to violence will be best achieved by simply leaving Afghanistan. I believe then the civilians there would be under no threat of violence from US forces whatsoever. You want less violence and less death Gen. McChrystal? How about stop bombing (and torturing) the world.
Sick in America
John Stossel reveals a few myths about universal healthcare in other countries.
Mississippi and Same-Sex Marriage
What do Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire all have in common? In the midst of such nationwide uproar, each of these states has passed laws legalizing same-sex marriage. Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire are not currently allowing it within their state, but they have passed legislation putting a date on when the marriages can legally begin to be performed. So what is Mississippi to do about the issue of same-sex marriage?
Well, we have a few options. Either we can repeat our hardened stance against allowing equal rights towards people who are perceived as different, or we can be the first southern state to allow the practice. Mississippi has some bad history when it comes to issues such as this. Our state was definitely a huge obstacle in the civil rights era. Our very own campus played a major role in the movement. Looking back on it now, aren’t we still ashamed of the violence shown towards a black man who simply wanted an education?
Sanctions Work… If You’re Punishing the Poor
In his article for the Daily Times, Brian Cloughley argues that the sanctions the US uses to try and put an end to nuclear ambitions from “rogue” nations only succeeds in punishing the already destitute civilian population of the targeted country. However, the leaders of those countries continue to ride high with lifestyles MTV Cribs should consider for their next episode.
[Sanctions] penalise the poor, and not their leaders. One only has to look at the appalling situation in Zimbabwe, where President Mugabe, a corrupt and brutal dictator, is disgustingly rich (as are his evil henchmen), while the majority of citizens are starving.
Cloughley also argues that the US is extremely fickle in its implementation of sanctions. While Madeleine Albright says the benefits received from US sanctions are worth the deaths of half a million Iraqi children, Washington is quick to remove them when they are need of help from our not-so-fortunate Middle Eastern “allies.” Cloughley uses the US’s on-again-off-again sanction policy toward Pakistan to explain this concept: as Pakistan’s assistance is needed in US foreign policy blunders, sanctions are conveniently lifted. However, when Pakistan’s usefulness has run out, sanctions are quickly reapplied.
Federal Reserve Transparency Act Reaches Majority Sponsorship
As of today, Ron Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Bill has received its 222nd co-sponsor. It only takes 218 to pass, so presumably the bill should pass the House. We now need to work on the Senate.
The idea that the Fed should continue to operate in complete secrecy is baffling. Consider this: Big Government and Big Business enjoy an incestuous relationship….The Chairman of the Fed can (and does) expand the money supply at will…. The Fed rigs the banking industry……all in secret. Congress literally is not entitled to demand information. It’s hard to imagine something more inimical to republican government.
213 Sponsors of H.R. 1207 in House of Representatives!
218 is a majority!
HR 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, is Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve.
“…Federal Reserve, you have a lot of power, you have too much power, you’re spending a lot of money, we have no idea what you’re doing. We and the Congress have a responsibility to know exactly what you’re doing. This bill, HR 1207, will allow us once and for all, to have some supervision of the Federal Reserve.”
-Congressman Ron Paul
To learn more, watch this video:
And check out this website.
HR 1207 is now in the House Committee on Financial Services. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP in this legislation! If it doesn’t get out of committee it will not come to a vote! There are 71 members on this committee and they are all listed below. Read the rest of this entry »
The Lies of War
An oldie, but a goody. Laurence Vance, as usual, provides a powerful jeremiad that will, sadly, go ignored by the American people. But they’ll get up in arms about who deserved to win American Idol.
Obama Sells Out Again. Shocking.
After calling for an end to Clinton’s policy of don’t-ask-don’t-tell, Obama has made no move against it, even when given a chance. By the way, more gays have been kicked out of the military under don’t-ask-don’t-tell than before its inception, when simply being gay was sufficient cause to be chucked out.
Let’s wait and see if Olbermann, moveon.org, Michael Moore, and sundry disciples of The Golden Child speak out against this. Let’s see if they are principled, as they say, or merely shills for the Democratic Party, as we suspect.
Read about it here.
The Rich Man’s Terrorism
It is no stretch for one to conclude that terrorism has replaced socialism as the new perceived threat to America. Our government has found it exponentially more convenient to use mythical terrorist threats to scare US citizens into saluting the flag and pledging support for all horrendous atrocities being carried out in our names. These scare tactics are to be expected post Cold War because America needs a new reason to justify its empire, as well as its increasing control over the lives of the population. However, a recent court case has me questioning the arbitrary definition our government has placed on terrorism.
According to Al Jazeera, A US court recently sentenced the former heads of the charity organization Holy Land Foundation to 65 years in prison for providing funds to Hamas. Prosecutors claimed that the charity was spreading Hamas ideology by providing aid to its schools, hospitals, and social welfare programs inside Palestinian territories. They also accused the charity of allowing Hamas to fund its fighting with the charitable donations. Bush labeled this case another battle in the War on Terror. However, while I would not agree with this charity funding Hamas’s violent actions, the case does expose the hypocrisy of the US government in dealing with Israel and Palestine.
Our American Stormtroopers
Maine’s jackbooted thugs raided a charity game and seized the money raised to help poor people. A victory for “law and order.” A defeat for people in need. Apparently, when our Lord and Savior tells us to feed his sheep, we must first seek pre-approval from the state.
Read about the outrageous actions of Maine’s fine men in blue here.
Pravda Decries American Marxism
Amazing. Pravda was the offical mouthpiece of the Communist Party in the Soviet days. Those writers know Marxism when they see it.
Read here.
Campus Activism Award
The Wake Forest Young Americans for Liberty are in the running for the Leadership Institute’s Campus Activism Award for hosting Ron Paul and BJ Lawson on their campus. They can receive funding if they win this. Right now they are in second place with 25% of the votes. Let’s help out our fellow YAL members and vote for them. Go here.
Wake Forest Young Americans for Liberty with Ron Paul
Tyranny in the Age of Obama
Justin Raimondo writes that Obama promises to usher in more tyranny than even Bush. While Bush was deplorable, Obama is unthinkable.
Ain’t My America: The Long, Noble History of Anti-War Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism
Libertarian author Bill Kaufman has written a book that discusses the long history of anti-war sentiment. He provides a timely reminder that not all Americans celebrated war while their government sent their sons to die. Even more timely is Kaufman’s reminder that most opposition to war used to come from conservatives. Hopefully Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and the entire War Party will discover authentic conservatism.
Click here for a book review.
Obama’s Recovery Plan
Statistics do seem to ail governments and their projections. Here is a graph put together from PowerLine Blog. It compares Obama’s projections of unemployment with his recovery plan to the actual unemployment that has been recorded. How is it going so far? Take a look for yourself.
(The red triangles are the actual unemployment figures that have been recorded. Compare them to the predicted unemployment line.)
Obamanomics
Would it be safe to say that the Obama recovery plan is a failure seeing as how the line predicted without the recovery plan is better than what actually happened with the recover plan?
Government never can seem to fix our economy. We should not stand for any more impovershiment at the hands of our financial planners.
Running for Congress
So far, a couple of liberty minded individuals have announced the formation of exploratory committees for running for Congress in 2010.
Please join us in support of these two as they attempt to bring about true change in Washington D.C.
